Rove: Democratic Senators Partly to Blame for IRS Scandal

Democratic senators played a role in the Internal Revenue Service decision to target conservative groups, claims Republican strategist Karl Rove.

Appearing on Fox News, he noted a 2012 letter signed by seven Democratic senators, including Charles Schumer of New York and Max Baucus of Montana, requesting the IRS "immediately change the administrative framework for enforcement of the tax code as it applies to groups designated as 'social welfare' organizations," The Hill reported Wednesday.

Editor's Note: ObamaCare Is About to Strike Are You Prepared?

So IRS staffers simply "were doing what people on Capitol Hill wanted them to do," Rove said

“In 2010, Max Baucus . . . wrote a letter to the director of the IRS saying, ‘Go investigate these kinds of groups.’ We had Chuck Schumer, who has been stirring this around for a number of years, by 2012 he goes out and gives a similar tough letter to the head of the IRS saying, ‘Look at these groups,’ and gets six others to sign the letter.”

The Schumer letter spoke of "abuse of the tax code by political groups focused on federal election activities," Rove said.